Actions from Ms. InfanteMovable Type Pro 4.382011-12-25T11:47:21Zhttp://www.kcet.org/user/profile/jchristinahuh/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=feed&_type=actions&username=Martha%20InfanteCommented on All I Want for Christmas is...A Good Education For My Kids in Departures Columnstag:www.kcet.org,2011:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.40988#347152011-12-25T19:47:21ZMs. Infante
I found this post to be full of contradictions and ultimately could not figure out the point of it. School choice is challenging, yet beneficial? Teachers are our allies, but let's publicly shame them through the Don't Hold Us Back Campaign by purchasing full page ads in major newspapers begging teachers not to hold kids back? Pardon me, but nothing could be more offensive as a teacher than portraying me as an obstinate, recalcitrant teacher opposed to reform.

One should tread with great care when walking down the road of value added measurement. To equate this with "student achievement" is misguided. One cannot know what the teacher did to get high scores, because the tests were not designed to measure teacher quality. As Campbell's Law states, the more you use tests to measure something other than for which they were designed, the more the results are corrupted. A teacher could exclusively teach to the test at the expense of untested subjects such as art, science, and social studies. A teacher could drill and kill, as these tests measure the minimum of student knowledge, not the thinking on the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. On a more ominous note, cheating scandals have erupted nationwide as teachers and administrators in districts that have moved into using student test scores as a part of evaluations now realize that high scores mean keeping their jobs, and they will do anything to keep them.

So if the author is seeking a good education for her children (aren't we all?), I encourage her to become a part of the school and district decision making councils. Join the professional organizations for different subject matters and attend their conferences, where there are usually parent sessions. Read Diane Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Follow @SOSmarch on twitter and read all their links. You are right. There is a wealth of information out there and it can be so confusing. But don't buy into the anti-teacher rhetoric because I can assure you that the problems in education have a lot more to do with wealth inequality than teacher quality.